"Dredd's a notoriously difficult character to get the voice right - and it becomes even more of a challenge when you're writing him as an 18-year-old, fresh out of the Academy," said Smith.

"But it's been great fun charting his early cases, feeding into the stories the elements that will go on to make him Mega-City's most feared lawman. And it's terrific to have Simon Coleby on board, a superb artist and well experienced in portraying the madness of the future metropolis."

Smith has already tackled the early era with the e-novella Judge Dredd: Year One - City Fathers, which was released earlier this year.